1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filter assembly, and more particularly to a filter assembly having a five-way valve device disposed therein for allowing the filter assembly to easily operate various kinds of operations by simply rotating the five-way valve device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various kinds of typical filter devices have been developed and comprise one or more filter members or fluid conditioning medium disposed in an outer housing, and the outer housing includes an inlet for receiving water and for allowing the water to be filtered by the filter members or fluid conditioning medium, and an outlet for allowing the filtered water to flow out of the outer housing.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,570 to Gailitis et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,847 to Rothemund disclose two of the typical filter devices each also comprising one or more filter members or fluid conditioning medium disposed in an outer housing, for filtering the water flowing into the outer housing and flowing through the filter members or fluid conditioning medium.
However, while the water flowing through the filter members or fluid conditioning medium, dirt or particles or contaminants may be filtered and attached onto the filter members or fluid conditioning medium, and may quickly block the filter members or fluid conditioning medium, such that the filter members or fluid conditioning medium may have to be changed with new ones from time to time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,568 to Ellis, III discloses another typical filter device also comprising one or more filter members or fluid conditioning medium for filtering the water flowing into the outer housing, and further comprising a flushing arrangement for cleansing the concentrate side of a reverse osmosis membrane at the conclusion of a purifying cycle.
However, the flushing arrangement may be arranged or used for cleansing the concentrate side of the reverse osmosis membrane only, and may not be used or arranged to change ion with the filter members or fluid conditioning medium.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional filter devices.